How To Get The Meeting Every Time, with Stu Heinecke, Episode #128

When you really, really need to get the meeting with that high-level exec you’re hoping to build a business relationship with, what do you do? Email? Cold call? Outreach on LinkedIn? Each of those has their place, but nothing is more effective than what my friend Stu Heinecke refers to as “Contact Marketing.” Why am I talking about something with the word “marketing” in the name on #SellingWithSocial (a sales podcast)? Because it’s the most powerful way for sales professionals to get the meeting every, single, time. Yep – you heard that right. Every time.

Stu is an author, Wall Street Journal cartoonist, and hall of fame–nominated marketer. Through his writing, he’s taught thousands of sales reps, business owners, entrepreneurs, and CEOs how to use Contact Marketing to get meetings that have dramatic bottom-line impact on the companies they work for. Listen to this episode – it will get your creative juices flowing and motivate you to get outside the cold-calling box you’re in so that you can get the meeting with those high-priority prospects on your radar.

This episode is brought to you by Gong.io, the number one conversation intelligence platform for sales. Gong helps you achieve revenue success, which means you win more deals, skyrocket rep performance and gain critical market intelligence. Get powerful visibility into your customer conversations with Gong. Head to http://bit.ly/gongio to get started.

Your Messaging Has To Stand Out If You’re Going To Get The Meeting

Most meeting requests fail because they are boring, irrelevant, and built on a cookie-cutter approach. Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes: After seeing the same sales messaging over and over, both prospects and their gatekeepers tune it out. It’s as simple as that.

Stu says that your primary goal in Contact Marketing is to set your message apart from the others your prospects are receiving. That’s the only hope you have of convincing them that your solutions are worth consideration.

Stu uses his cartooning skills to create unique gifts that he sends to prospects. But since you’re likely not a cartoonist, what could you do? To give you some ideas, Stu tells the following stories…

One sales professional used Cutco knife sets to get in the door – mailed directly to the prospect one knife at a time. His efforts resulted in a 6-figure deal.

Another researched his prospect and discovered his love of falconry, so he sent a custom falconry glove. It resulted in 3 referrals and 6-figure deal.

Dan Waldschmidt, who’s been a guest on this podcast, sent an actual sword as an image of the message he wanted to communicate.

These all sound elaborate or expensive, but your Contact Marketing efforts don’t have to be either of those things. Listen to hear Stu give practical examples of the kinds of things you can do to get the meeting with your key prospects.

The New Standard For Meeting Requests: 100% Response Rate

It’s every salesperson’s dream to have a 100% response rate to meeting requests, and Stu says it commonly happens when his Contact Marketing approach is used. Why is the method he teaches so effective? Because it is a way of connecting that gets attention, stands out by expressing care and interest in the prospect, and enlists the gatekeepers to help you get the meeting set up.

That’s a lot of promises – but it really works. In this conversation, Stu describes several ways individuals have used his Contact Marketing method to great success. It sounds crazy, but the beauty is that it’s just crazy enough to work. Be sure you listen. By the time you’re finished, you’ll understand what Contact Marketing is, why it works, and how it could become the most powerful component of your sales enablement strategy.

Having Trouble Getting Around Gatekeepers? Make Them Your Allies

In this conversation, Stu begins his explanation of Contact Marketing by telling a story of how he has used his cartooning skills to get in touch with high-level prospects. It all starts with targeting the right prospect, researching them to find a touchpoint that will make for a good connection, and creating a unique “Big Board” cartoon that is personalized and meaningful.

Stu’s team then reaches out to the person’s executive assistant and explains that they have a cartoon created by a Wall Street Journal editorial cartoonist that features their boss – and they’d like to send it to them. The assistant is immediately intrigued and on-board for getting the cartoon for their boss. Listen to hear how the process goes from there. You’ll find Stu’s insight and creativity inspiring.

Once You Get The Sales Meeting, Turn The Conversation Into A Conversion

I once had a sales representative reach out to me in a clever way that truly impressed me. He lives in my area and hosts a podcast that features CEOs from our area. He invited me to be a thought leadership guest on his podcast. After working out the details, I was invited to his office for the recording. Once there, he toured me around the place, introduced me to his sales team, and that’s when it dawned on me… I was a prospect for the service he provides. After a discussion about his approach, I discovered that he had a sales pipeline full of targeted, qualified prospects just like me who he had reached and established a relationship with through his podcast.

Stu says his approach is a perfect application of his Contact Marketing strategies. He was doing it right. But the story doesn’t end there. The sales rep contacted me later on, to say that he was very frustrated because his sales managers were pressuring him to stop podcasting. Why? His efforts weren’t converting. Listen to discover how Stu diagnoses his problem and recommends a solution. You’ll find it very helpful for your own efforts at Contact Marketing.

This episode is brought to you by Gong.io, the number one conversation intelligence platform for sales. Gong helps you achieve revenue success, which means you win more deals, skyrocket rep performance and gain critical market intelligence. Get powerful visibility into your customer conversations with Gong. Head to http://bit.ly/gongio to get started.

Outline of This Episode

[3:58] How Stu became an editorial cartoonist

[9:22] What is contact marketing and why should it matter to sales professionals?

[15:42] How to come up with must-reply contact requests

[19:50] Alternative ideas for getting meetings in creative ways

[24:30] How Dustin used his podcast to get Mario to show up at his office for a meeting

[35:01] An individualized approach to sales management is often the issue

Mario Martinez Jr.

Mario is the CEO and Co-founder of Vengreso. He spent 84 consecutive quarters in B2B Sales and Leadership roles growing hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue annually.
Mario is one of 20 sales influencers invited to appear in the Salesforce documentary film “The Story of Sales” launched in 2018. He was named 2019’s Top 10 Sales Influencers by The Modern Sales Magazine, 2018’s Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Professional, Selling Power Magazine’s 2018 Top Sales Training and Coaching Consultant, and was recognized in 2019 as one of the top Social Media Leaders by The Social Shake Up.
As a renowned digital sales evangelist, Mario teaches marketing and sales professionals how to develop an engaging personal brand to attract today’s modern buyer using the digital sales ecosystem. Mario is the host of the popular Selling With Social Podcast. He’s been featured in Forbes, INC., Entrepreneur and was formerly a contributor to the Huffington Post. He’s a highly sought-after Keynote Speaker with brands such as LinkedIn, Cisco and many more. He is also known to open a speech with a Salsa dance.
Follow him on YouTube, LinkedIn, or on Twitter.